Unit 1
An artist who seeks fame is like a dog chasing his own tail who, when he captures it, does not know what else to do but to continue chasing it.
艺术家追求成名，如同狗自逐其尾，一旦追到手，除了继续追逐不知还能做些什么。
The cruelty of success is that it often leads those who seek such success to participate in their own destruction.
成功之残酷正在于它常常让那些追逐成功者自寻毁灭。
\quit your day job!\is advice frequently given by understandably pessimistic family members and friends to a budding artist who is trying hard to succeed.
对一名正努力追求成功并刚刚崭露头角的艺术家，其亲朋常常会建议“正经的饭碗不能丢！”他们的担心不无道理。
The conquest of fame is difficult at best, and many end up emotionally if not financially bankrupt.
追求出人头地，最乐观地说也困难重重，许多人到最后即使不是穷困潦倒，也是几近精神崩溃。
Still, impure motives such as the desire for worshipping fans and praise from peers may spur the artist on.
尽管如此，希望赢得追星族追捧和同行赞扬之类的不太纯洁的动机却在激励着他们向前。
The lure of drowning in fame's imperial glory is not easily resisted.
享受成功的无上光荣，这种诱惑不是能轻易抵挡的。
Those who gain fame most often gain it as a result of exploiting their talent for singing, dancing, painting, or writing, etc.
成名者之所以成名，大多是因为发挥了自己在歌唱、舞蹈、绘画或写作等方面的特长，并能形成自己的风格。
They develop a style that agents market aggressively to hasten popularity, and their ride on the express elevator to the top is a blur.
为了能迅速走红，代理人会极力吹捧他们这种风格。他们青云直上的过程让人看不清楚。
Most would be hard-pressed to tell you how they even got there.
他们究竟是怎么成功的，大多数人也都说不上来。
Artists cannot remain idle, though.
尽管如此，艺术家仍然不能闲下来。
When the performer, painter or writer becomes bored, their work begins to show a lack of continuity< in its appeal and it becomes difficult to sustain the attention of the public.
若表演者、画家或作家感到无聊，他们的作品就难以继续保持以前的吸引力，也就难以保持公众的注意力。
After their enthusiasm has dissolved, the public simply moves on to the next flavor of the month.
公众的热情消磨以后，就会去追捧下一个走红的人。
Artists who do attempt to remain current by making even minute changes to their style of writing, dancing or singing, run a significant risk of losing the audience's favor.
有些艺术家为了不落伍，会对他们的写作、跳舞或唱歌的风格稍加变动，但这将冒极大的失宠的危险。
The public simply <22>discounts styles other than those for which the artist has become famous.
公众对于他们藉以成名的艺术风格以外的任何形式都将不屑一顾。
Famous authors' styles—a Tennessee Williams play or a plot by Ernest Hemingway or a poem by Robert Frost or . Eliot—are easily recognizable.
知名作家的文风一眼就能看出来，如田纳西·威廉斯的戏剧、欧内斯特·海明威的情节安排、罗伯特·弗罗斯特或 .艾略特的诗歌等。
The same is true of painters like Monet, Renoir, or Dali and <24>moviemakers like Hitchcock, Fellini, Spielberg, Chen Kaige or Zhang Yimou.
同样，像莫奈、雷诺阿、达利这样的画家，希区柯克、费里尼、斯皮尔伯格、陈凯歌或张艺谋这样的电影制作人也是如此。
Their distinct styles marked a significant change in form from others and gained them fame and fortune.
他们鲜明独特的艺术风格标志着与别人不同的艺术形式上的重大变革，这让他们名利双收、
However, they paid for it by giving up the freedom to express themselves with other styles or forms.
但也让他们付出了代价，那就是失去了用其他风格或形式表现自我的自由。
Fame's spotlight can be hotter than a tropical <27>jungle—a <28>fraud is quickly exposed, and the pressure of so much attention is too much for most to endure.
名气这盏聚光灯可比热带丛林还要炙热。骗局很快会被揭穿，过多的关注带来的压力会让大多数人难以承受。
It takes you out of yourself: You must be what the public thinks you are, not what you really are or could be.
它让你失去自我。你必须是公众认可的那个你，而不是真实的你或是可能的你。
The performer, like the politician, must often please his or her audiences by saying things he or she does not mean or fully believe.
艺人，就像政客一样，必须常常说些违心或连自己都不完全相信的话来取悦听众。
One drop of fame will likely <29>contaminate the entire well of a man's soul, and so an artist who remains true to himself or herself is particularly amazing.
一滴名气之水有可能玷污人的心灵这一整口井，因此一个艺术家若能保持真我，会格外让人惊叹。
You would be hard-pressed to underline many names of those who have not compromised and still succeeded in the fame game.
你可能答不上来哪些人没有妥协，却仍然在这场名利的游戏中获胜。
An example, the famous Irish writer Oscar Wilde, known for his uncompromising behavior, both social and sexual, to which the public objected, paid heavily for remaining true to himself.